Theatre

Globe Theater was built between 1597 and 1598 by Peter Smith and his workers who was a carpenter at the time. It was built after demolition of an original theater that was known as the theater by a landlord because of disagreement between the landlord and the theater company. This occurred after a 21 year lease that they had been given by the landlord who was called Giles Allen expired and because he the landlord was not pleased with the theoretical productions that were taking place and theater in general. He raised the price for the next lease to ridiculous levels which led to the disagreement and relocation of the theater. The work of dismantling the theater and transportation to the new site where they were to construct a new one was undertaken by the acting troupe. Its through this that Globe Theater came into existence (Johnson, p. 296).

Globe Theater was built in the south side of river Thames. It was a wonderful amphitheater that was not only used for acting plays but it was also used as a gambling and brothel house. It became a big success because of its proximity to Bear Garden. This affected Bear Gardens as its profits slumped leading to its closure in 1614 by Edward Alleyn and Henslowe (Adams, p.54). He replaced it with a new theater which he named Hope Theater. Edward Alleyn attempted to attract masses from the Globe Theater by returning to stage but all was in vain. Globe Theaters plays were great they were making good money with the steady demand for fresh materials which increased competition between the two theater groups. Plays were produced as soon as they had been written with printing following productions. Rival companies used to send their actors to attend the plays after which they could reproduce copies of the plays as there were no copy rights at the time. This led to unauthorized production of Shakespeares plays. These copies were inferior and were referred to as Quarto texts. Elizabeths theater which included the globe became successful until other Elizabeths entertainments were seriously affected. Because of the growth of theater popularity, a law was passed that required closure of all theaters on Thursday so that other industries such as bull and bear fighting couldnt be abandoned (Beckerman, P.65).

Events in the Globe Theater
 Most days were exciting with surrounding grounds filled with people. There were stalls that could sell goods and refreshments to people bringing the market atmosphere. Those individuals who didnt like plays would come to the theaters and go to enjoy in holiday like mood at the market stalls. The Globe particularly appealed to young people making some of them to avoid work just to come and enjoy activities that were taking place at their theaters. A trumpet could be blown prior to the start of plays requiring people to take their designated places.

The Globe used flags to advertise itself. The flags would be erected when they were performing with some containing Hercules figure to symbolize that the first performance was about to begin. They also used colors in which black flags symbolized tragedy, white was a sign of comedy with red symbolizing history (Johnson, p. 296).

Their motto To publicize the arrival of The Globe, Lord Chamberlains men erected a flag that had an image of Hercules with the globe on his shoulders to indicate the beginning of the first play of Julius Caesar. The top of the flag contained their motto lotus mundus agit histrionem that translated to the whole world is a play ground.

Productions They were very sophisticated with the use of props like fully working canons which had to remain on stage for the entire play. There spectacular additions such as the smoke effects were amazing with firing of canons and fireworks. The stage contained trap-doors that allowed extra astounding incidents. Music also contributed to its popularity with the sight of flying Shakespeare actors making it more interesting to the audience (Beckerman, P.65).

Globe Theater actors The audience was kept alive all the time with its actors presenting more than eleven performances from different plays within a span of two weeks. The actors used to get their play lines while performing of which they were being whispered to by an individual who was located at the backstage. This type of acting came to be called cue acting and it is through it that cue scripting came into existence in which each actor was presented with his own lines. The play scene was left unexplained to the actors until the time they were performing leaving them without rehearsal time. This allowed for quick new productions with big collection of variety of roles (Johnson, p. 296).

Shakespeare
According to Timothy (p.77), Shakespeare was a stakeholder in the Globe Theater and also featured in some of the plays. The role that he played in Globe Theater is not clear although there is some documented information about him. He began his stage career quite earlier by 1592, there is documented evidence from Robert Greene Groatsworth. It thought that he had participated in a play by the name Edward I that was written by Edward Peele in 1953. It is also thought that he had taken characters in a number of his own plays. This is evident from the words of the first biographer referring to Shakespeares role in his plays as the Ghost in his own Hamlet and He was the top of his performance. Because of lack of control of the plays by the government, it was not difficult to use them to propagate propaganda. Plays were acted that were aimed at criticizing the government. The queen realized the effects that they could have on her popularity and sort to control them by regulating those players who would stroll through giving royal licenses to organized companies thus introducing justifiable groups like Earl of Leicesters Men. Plays brought about debates among people with some theaters serving as brothel, bear pits and gambling houses. (Beckerman, P.65)
Audiences became noisy and disorderly giving the government an excuse to control the industry. It became a requirement for plays that were to be published to obtain licensing from the government which gave the government an opportunity to censor some of the plays. Objection continued increasing from the government, church and prominent citizens because of the many activities that were taking place in the theaters, some which were considered to be promoting crime. Come December of 1574, the Common council of London banned the plays from being presented in both theaters and public in its statement . . . Thus from henceforth no play, comedy, tragedy, interlude, not public show shall be openly played or showed within the liberties of the City . . . and that no innkeeper, tavern keeper, nor other person whatsoever within the liberties of this City shall openly show or play . . . any interlude, comedy, tragedy, matter, or show which shall not be first perused and allowed . . . The Globe existed until 1613 when it was burnt down on June 29 of that year. The fire had been caused by the canon which was being used for special effects and contained wadding and gun powder. The theater burnt down but its not recorded if there were any injuries (Charles, p.59).

End of Globe Theater  
 According to Adams (p.54), in 1642 with the influence from the puritans, English Parliament ordered for suppression of stage plays in theaters. It also implemented strict code of behavior in which any kind of frivolous or finely behaviors were condemned. War broke out in 1642 between Puritans and Royalists and in 1644, Globe Theater was demolished. In 1648, stricter measures were put in place after which an order to pull down all play houses was given. Players were to be captured and whipped with their audience being charged five shillings each. In 1653, Cromwell became Lord Prosecutor of England and after his death in 1658, Puritans powers decreased. In 1660, the English monarchy was restored back to power under King Charles II. Theaters were finally opened but The Globe was never rebuilt.